International

Serving Chicago, East Lansing, Flint, Port Huron, Sarnia, London, Toronto, and intermediate points

Amtrak train numbers: 364 and 365

Predecessor railroad train numbers: Canadian National/Grand Trunk Western 14 and 15 (International Limited)

Prior to the advent of Amtrak in 1971, Canadian National Railways and its U.S. subsidiary, the Grand Trunk Western, had operated several trains daily between Chicago, Toronto, and Montreal, crossing the border between Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario. The flagship train on the route was the International Limited, operating on an overnight schedule between Chicago and Toronto.

With Amtrak taking over most passenger train service in the U.S., the Grand Trunk Western's portion was discontinued; however, service between Chicago and Port Huron was reintroduced in 1974 with the financial support of the state of Michigan, as a day train called the Blue Water Limited.

On October 31, 1982, the train was extended to Toronto as a joint venture between Amtrak and its Canadian equivalent, VIA Rail, and renamed the International. It wasn't an exact successor to the International Limited, because it remained on a daytime schedule with no sleeping cars and no full dining car service.

Initially, equipment for the train was provided by both Amtrak and VIA Rail, with each railroad providing complete trainsets that operated on alternate days. Eventually, Amtrak began providing all the equipment, but VIA Rail personnel still take over the entire train at the border, including a complete change of items for sale in the snack car.

Amtrak has occasionally broached the idea of running the International through Detroit and Windsor instead of Port Huron and Sarnia, particularly when Michigan has seemed reluctant to renew its financial obligation, but a reroute would once again leave several important Michigan cities without passenger train service, in particular Lansing, where the train station is right on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing.

More recently, the International has been subject to long delays caused by increased border security following the events of September 11, 2001; in some cases, all passengers have had to carry their baggage and leave the train on one side of the border, take a bus across the Blue Water Bridge, go through customs, and then reboard the train.

Condensed historical timetables:

           READ DOWN                                          READ UP
(1956)  (1984)  (1992)  (2002)                    (2002)  (1992)  (1984)  (1956)
 8:10P  10:25A   8:35A   9:50A Dp Chicago      Ar  5:52P   6:45P   5:59P   7:25A
 1:40A   3:27P   1:37P   2:44P    East Lansing     2:47P   3:25P   2:40P   4:20A
 2:53A   4:18P   2:34P   3:45P    Flint            1:43P   2:33P   1:52P   3:31A
 4:20A   5:45P   4:10P   5:35P    Port Huron      12:30P   1:25P  12:45P   2:30A
 4:40A   6:40P   5:00P   7:05P    Sarnia          11:10A  12:35P  11:45A   1:54A
 5:52A   7:50P   6:05P   -----    London          10:00A  11:25A  10:35A  12:52A
 9:15A   9:55P   8:50P  11:10P    Toronto          6:35A   8:20A   8:15A  10:00P
 5:45P   -----   -----   ----- Ar Montreal     Dp  -----   -----   -----   3:30P
                  

The Amtrak Train Names Project

In`ter*na"tion*al (?), a. [Pref. inter- + national: cf. F. international.]

1.

Between or among nations; pertaining to the intercourse of nations; participated in by two or more nations; common to, or affecting, two or more nations.

2.

Of or concerning the association called the International.

International code Naut., a common system of signaling adopted by nearly all maritime nations, whereby communication may be had between vessels at sea. -- International copyright. See under Copyright. -- International law, the rules regulating the mutual intercourse of nations. International law is mainly the product of the conditions from time to time of international intercourse, being drawn from diplomatic discussion, textbooks, proof of usage, and from recitals in treaties. It is called public when treating of the relations of sovereign powers, and private when of the relations of persons of different nationalities. International law is now, by the better opinion, part of the common law of the land. Cf. Conflict of laws, under Conflict.

Wharton.

© Webster 1913.